How the Palisades, Eaton fires are affecting L.A. theaters

Pasadena Playhouse producing artistic director Danny Feldman first had the idea years ago: concert stagings of classic American musicals, each featuring an all-star cast and a full orchestra.

The Tony-winning regional theater scheduled the shows for back-to-back weekends, three performances each, at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium: Cole Porter’s 1934 comedy “Anything Goes,” starring Jinkx Monsoon, Wayne Brady and J. Harrison Ghee and directed by Annie Tippe, on Jan. 25 and 26; and Stephen Sondheim’s 1971 composition “Follies,” led by Rachel Bay Jones, Stephanie J. Block, Derrick Baskin and Aaron Lazar and directed by Leigh Silverman, on Jan. 31 and Feb. 1.

But on Tuesday, multiple fires began to spread throughout areas of Los Angeles, killing 10 people and destroying thousands of homes, businesses and cultural institutions. The Eaton fire, which has burned 13,956 acres and structures in Altadena and Pasadena, spurred mandatory evacuations and official warnings about not consuming the region’s smoke-filled air and contaminated tap water supply.

With numerous Playhouse staff, board members and artists evacuated from their homes — some of which have been lost in the fires — as well as the ongoing hazardous conditions in the Pasadena area, Feldman made the decision on Friday to cancel all six performances.

“Everyone was trying their absolute hardest to keep going, but at a certain point, it just became clear that this wasn’t the best thing to move forward with,” Feldman said Friday afternoon. “We know how many people were looking forward to it, and we all were too. But my tiny heartbreak of all the work all of us have put into it pales in comparison to the loss everyone is dealing with, which is vast and overwhelming and deeply hitting.”

Rehearsals for “Anything Goes” began at the nonprofit theater on Tuesday but were canceled starting Wednesday. (“Follies” was scheduled to start rehearsals next week). The performances at the 3,000-seat Pasadena Civic Auditorium — a first-time expansion of the Playhouse’s commitment to put on regional revivals of classic American musicals — were well on track to hit sales goals, with a final marketing push set to unfold in the coming weeks. The theater will be contacting ticket holders for both shows about refunds and other ticket options.

“It’s a huge unknown, but two to three weeks from now, people might be ready to smile again and enjoy, and we’d have to put in the work now to make that happen,” Feldman said.

“But it just hit a point where it stopped making sense to ask folks to come together in smoky conditions to make a thing, as much as we’d be doing so in service of the community. It’s going to be a financial hit, but there are just bigger things at hand. We have to care for our people and our community and make sure we can get everyone through this moment together.”

The Eaton fire torched Altadena Community Church.

(Christina House / Los Angeles Times)

The Playhouse’s cancellations are among many throughout L.A.’s live performance scene. The Hollywood Pantages Theatre canceled three performances of “Wicked” this week and is aiming to resume on Saturday afternoon. The Wallis rescheduled its weekend Jeremy Jordan concerts and the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra performance; Los Angeles Philharmonic postponed its shows with Igor Levit and Cody Fry, among others. The Actors’ Gang Theater canceled the opening weekend of its 10-minute play festival “Night Miracles,” now starting on Jan. 16 and runs through Feb. 8.

Additionally, many other companies that were readying to open full productions also saw their plans thwarted by the fires. The world premiere of Laura Shamas’ “Four Women in Red” was set to begin this weekend at Victory Theatre Center and is now scheduled to begin Jan. 17. Moving Arts Theatre’s world premiere of Lisa Kenner Grissom’s “here comes the night,” initially scheduled to start shows Jan. 16, has delayed its first performance by a week.

Colony Theatre canceled its first weekend of performances of Arthur Miller’s “Death of a Salesman” and is aiming to begin its run on Jan. 14. The production is offering free tickets to firefighters and first responders on Jan. 14, 15, 21, 22 and 25 (with code LAFF) and is doubling as a donation center for nonperishable foods, clothing and pet supplies.

Rogue Machine Theatre’s West Coast premiere of Will Arbery’s “Evanston Salt Costs Climbing,” set to begin performances at the Matrix Theatre on Jan. 18, lost power during Wednesday’s rehearsal but continued its preparations with lanterns in the parking lot and later canceled two rehearsals. Center Theatre Group’s world premiere of Larissa Fasthorse’s “Fake It ‘Til You Make It,” scheduled to start performances at the Mark Taper Forum on Jan. 29, initially canceled rehearsals and has since resumed.

And both the Fountain Theatre’s production of Audrey Cefaly’s “Alabaster” (beginning Feb. 5) and A Noise Within’s staging of Shakespeare’s “Macbeth” (starting Feb. 9) have moved their rehearsals to Zoom this week.

These theaters are monitoring the situation as it develops, and preparing to potentially cancel more rehearsals and performances — a tough decision, said Feldman. But given the circumstances, it’s one that needs to be made.

“That phrase of ‘The show must go on’ is widely mistaken,” he said. “That’s for when you’re going onstage and your prop is missing, so you make it up. But when people are in pain and trauma the way our community is right now, I don’t think the show has to go on.”